HC Deb 26 October 1999 vol 336 cc813-4W
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate he has made of the amount of income that will be generated from fees paid by the Guide Association Movement in the UK arising from use of the proposed Criminal Records Bureau in the first three years of its operation; [93728]

(2) what estimate he has made of (a) the annual revenue raised from the Scout and Guiding Movement as a result of the charges for carrying out security checks on new volunteers, (b) the cost of administering each charge associated with security checks on people who work with children and (c) the number of individuals subject to such a charge per annum. [94703]

Mr. Charles Clarke

When the Criminal Records Bureau comes into operation, it will be expected to recover its costs through charges for the certificates it will issue, on application, to individual employees. The overall cost to the Scout and Guiding Movement will depend upon their decisions as to the circumstances in which its volunteers should apply for a certificate and whether to reimburse the cost. Until the Bureau's operating costs have been determined it will not be possible to fix the charges for certificates but our best early estimate is £10 for the most expensive certificate, the Enhanced Criminal Record Certificate. We have made clear our intention to keep the cost as low as possible.

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